15 Rules for Building Billion-Dollar Projects On Time, On Budget

Big projects routinely blow their budgets, schedules, and sometimes the companies building them. But research across 16,000+ projects reveals surprisingly consistent rules for getting them right. In this solo episode, I translate lessons from How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner into practical strategies for entrepreneurs building factories, energy projects, infrastructure, and other capital-intensive businesses. Seven lessons for entrepreneurs: Assume your forecast is too optimistic. Compare your project with what actually happened on similar projects, not just your own projections. Plan slowly so you can build quickly. Mistakes are cheap on paper and brutally expensive once construction starts. Don’t innovate everywhere at once. A breakthrough project can combine mostly proven components with a small amount of genuinely novel technology. Find your LEGO brick. Standardization, repetition, and modularity can dramatically reduce cost, complexity, and execution risk. Hire people with scars. Your first commercial project should not also be your contractor’s first attempt at building one. Shrink the window of vulnerability. Every extra month creates more exposure to inflation, tariffs, elections, supply chains, and other surprises. Align incentives before construction begins. Structure contracts so everyone wins when the project succeeds, rather than profiting from delays and change orders. Read about all 15 tips here: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com/p/15-rules-for-building-big-projects -- Are you a VC- or PE-backed CEO building in energy, infrastructure, or climate tech? Join 45 CEOs and 45 investors and post-exit founders who help each other make better decisions on capital, strategy, scaling, and leadership. See if the CEO community is a fit → entrepreneursforimpact.com Get smarter on energy, infrastructure, and climate tech in 2 minutes. Join 40,000+ professionals getting practical insights on startups, investing, commercialization, strategy, and leadership. Get the free newsletter → entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com Help more people find this podcast. If this episode was useful, take 20 seconds to follow the show or leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps bring these conversations to more entrepreneurs, investors, and executives.